The UHURU Bar Reviews – Proud of Your Bourbon!

“There is no bad whiskey. There are only some whiskeys that aren’t as good as others.” – Raymond Chandler

Welcome to Uhuru Bar! The place where the booze flows freely. The place where we celebrate and embrace diversity of drink. We do not judge based upon your country of origin or skin tone, but rather how well you hold your booze and what booze your country has given the world. We recognize that not all boozes are created equal, but we will always hold true to proof, percentage by volume, and the pursuit of flavor. Of course, the end goal has, and always will remain the same. Inebriation.

Achieving this goal is quite easy. We have all accomplished this goal at one time or another (Otherwise why would you be reading this). Really what it boils down to how you achieve this goal. The means to the end really do matter in this case. When one wants to get shitfaced drunk any old booze will do. Now if you’d like to enjoy the journey to inebriation, and have much less of a raging hangover the next day. Then we need to branch out and discover new brands of liquor. Uhuru Bar is here it help!

Over the next few reviews we will be covering the official drink of the United States of America. Bourbon Whiskey. The term bourbon originated in France over some dynasty a very long time ago. The name bourbon has been used to refer to whiskey since around 1820’s and synonymous with Kentucky since 1870’s. Most people believe that to be a bourbon whiskey it must be made in Bourbon Co. Kentucky. Not true a bourbon can be made by following these requirements:

⦁ Made in the USA.
⦁ Aged in new, charred oak containers, usually barrels
⦁ Made from a grain mixture of at least 51% corn.
⦁ Distilled to no more than 160 proof or 80% by volume.
⦁ Must be no more than 125 proof or 62.5% by volume before entering into the barrel.
⦁ Bottle at 80 proof or more.

This qualifies as an American bourbon. Now this is the part that get convoluted, with single barrel, straight, blended, etc. If you would like to get into this deeper, please feel free to do your own research. For the purpose of these reviews, we will give the entire name and call it what it is.

Maker’s Mark

The hallmark of the Proud Boy meet-ups. This is a staple that should have a place in everyone’s liquor cabinet. Here at Uhuru Bar we have had many ounces of this whiskey in small glasses. Of course, we keep some on hand for a go to in times of “hell let’s get drunk”.

Gentlemen, this is the Toyota Camry of bourbons. There is a ton of it out there and everyone you know that drinks whiskey has had this bourbon. A trusty and reliable brand, and another feather in the cap of the Jim Beam family of whiskeys.

This is a call whiskey. By that it means is not going to be the bourbon poured when you say to the bartender “Can I have a bourbon, please”. In some of your higher end restaurants you will find them pouring Makers as their well. This is known as a premium well.

Maker’s Mark has a rather light smokey smell to it with somewhat of a citrus spice aroma. A nice caramel color similar to stain of the bar that served the whiskey. Maker’s Mark also has a very bold flavor with a bit of a spice finish, and of course the signature of most all whiskey’s. The smokey aroma through the nose. It has is a bit rough finish.

A decent drinkable whiskey for a somewhat of a reasonable price. This is definitely the whiskey to bring along to the party where no one is looking to savior the flavor. Shots and mixes are recommended, of course sipping is also appropriate. Either on the rocks or neat chased by a beer is recommended as well. Maker’s Mark also makes a Maker 46 and Cask Strength, which will cost you a bit more.

Here at Uhuru Bar we do enjoy our bourbon. Bulleit Bourbon is another whiskey that is a must to keep on hand. It’s there for those days when nothing else will do, but a glass or maybe four glasses of whiskey to wash everything away. Although this bottle is not as popular in all bars, it still can be found in many establishments.

This whiskey is perfect to bring to fishing or out to deer camp. Or just passing around the bon fire. No glasses need except of the one it came in. Maybe it’s because it says right on the bottle frontier whiskey. Perhaps it’s the raised lettering and the old-style label of the bottle. That conjures up imagines the front range and the western mountain. Something you’d see in walking into a saloon in a Clint Eastwood or John Wayne movie. It could be the mystery behind the original creator of this whiskey.

Around the 1830’s in Louisville, Kentucky a man name Augustus Bulleit had an extreme passion for creating the most unique flavor and of bourbon. After several trial and error (Oh darn he had to make and drink whiskey) Augustus came upon his successful recipe and taste he was looking for. On his way to from Louisville, to New Orleans delivering some barrels of his finest. Augustus disappeared, and no one knows what happened to him. His famous recipe was almost lost to time along with him. Though Augustus great-great- grandson carries on the family tradition today.

This bourbon has a very strong, but not overly powerful smoke smells. Nice easy spice and sweet smell more less. When you take your first sip you will immediately notice how smooth Bulleit is. Right away you’ll get a sweet taste followed by some spice and almost nutmeg or even toffee. It finishes with a fairly dry, slight spice, with not a lingering taste, and of course the fantastic nasal effect.

Overall a good drinking whiskey that does somewhat have a unique flavor to it. Not terribly over-priced. Though since the word has been getting out the price has gone up bit. Other times some bars don’t know what they have and sell it a fairly cheap price. Not the top shelf but you won’t go broke drinking it. For the drink and the price point this is a solid choice. Bulliet Bourbon also makes Bulleit Rye, and Bulleit 10 year.

When one of the old guys sitting in Uhuru bar says, “You kids don’t know what the good stuff really is, damn kids.” Any good bartender worth his salt would pay attention and ask what the old guys think is good whiskey. Eagle Rare is one of those whiskey’s that you need to be in the mood for. Unless you are an old crusty guy yelling at kids to get off his lawn.

This is a very bold, strong, powerful whiskey. When you go from drinking the lighter whiskeys to a slap you in the face charred oak and spice. It tends to through everything off balance. At first there is a huge WOW that’s whiskey taste to it, then it just keeps hanging around. Defiantly a bourbon that needs to be complemented by an equally powerful cigar.

More and More in the whiskey world and the spirits overall are starting to do away with number of years aged boozes. Partly because of the dwindling supply of oak, but mainly because you lushes out there are drinking too much booze (present company included). So, this whiskey holds true to its name, Rare. Spirits with an age on them are becoming increasing more expensive and harder to find. Which makes this bottle a nice collector to be drank on special occasions.

This whiskey boasts a very deep rich caramel color and right away you get a bold toffee, with some citrus, honey, and defiantly the oak. As you taste the first sip, boom whiskey right in the mouth. Somewhat of a dry taste, not lacking in the oak smoke flavor. The most noticeable point is the lingering taste. You and everyone around you will know you’ve been drinking a bold bourbon.

This is not a whiskey for everyone. We recommend working up to this bourbon if you are not a seasoned bourbon drinker. For those that are, go get a bottle, and keep it. Savoir it and just know that in the future aged bourbons will be harder to find. For this price point you can’t really go wrong. Again, not for the faint of heart or the soft tonged weekend warriors. Eagle Rare also makes a 17-year bourbon.

As with every bar we do have a last call. Not because we want to stop drinking, we are just tired of drinking with you. Thank you all for coming to Uhuru Bar. We hope you enjoyed the rants about bourbons. Please feel free to email any suggestions of boozes that you would like us to drink and rant about. As always you must be 21 and over in the US to drink what we talk about, and please don’t drink and drive. But, if you can’t be good, then you better be good at it. CHEERS!!!